Enclave
The Enclave is an extremely powerful and technologically advanced faction, comprised of the remnants of the former United States government. Formed in the immediate aftermath of the Great War, the Enclave sought to preserve the United States at all costs. After reemerging to the surface world, the Enclave leadership found it to be abhorrent, crawling with disgusting mutants and disfigured by radiation. As a result, the Enclave mounted a campaign of conquest and eradication across the West Coast. After its efforts in California were thwarted and its leadership destroyed, the remnants of the Enclave migrated East. The majority of the survivors regrouped in the Capital Wasteland under the leadership of President John Henry Eden. Eden, however, also issued orders to a select group of Enclave troops and officials, commanded by Colonel Charles Conwyn, to occupy Chicago, both to use as a forward operating base and in case the Enclave offensive in the East failed. The later ended up happening, and the Enclave's headquarters at Raven Rock was destroyed along with President Eden. In the aftermath, surviving Enclave forces scattered. Many, disillusioned after decades of fighting, took the opportunity to desert, and quietly assimilated into the Wasteland. Small bands of Enclave soldiers continued to operate across the Eastern seaboard, either in the hopes of continuing the Enclave's mission or as mercenaries and highwaymen. The majority of the survivors, however, escaped via vertibird to the Chicago FOB. In 2280, Conwyn promoted himself to the rank of General and assumed command of the Enclave. For many years, the Enclave laid low, gathering their strength within Facility: Rust and developing new technologies, such as the X-02 Power Armor and the Basilisk tank. In 2290, the Enclave began striking outside of Facility: Rust. Its main targets were locations containing pre-war technology or military assets, such as the Chicago Military Academy and Lake Michigan Naval Base. In addition, the Enclave attempted to invade several Vaults in the Chicago area, including Vault 72 and Vault 59. By 2293, the Enclave had assessed the situation in Chicago to be ripe for its comeback. That year, General Conwyn launched major offensives against the local chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel and began occupying numerous locations across the Chicago Wasteland. Under Conwyn's orders, entire towns were destroyed and their inhabitants slaughtered, in accordance with the Enclave's policy toward impure humans. Using captured G.E.C.K.s, the Enclave also established the settlement of Columbia, intended to be a radiation-free haven for Enclave civilians. In 2294, the year that Fallout: Rust begins, General Conwyn announced that a war against the wasteland had begun. To prosecute the war, Conwyn attempted to invade Chicago, eradicate super mutants and ghouls, and destroy the factions of the Brotherhood of Steel and the Commune. As the crux of this war, Conwyn launched an all-out attack on Facility: Frost in order to seize the nuclear missiles stored there and destroy his enemies once and for all. History Origins Work-In-Progress War in the West Work-In-Progress War in the East Work-In-Progress Regrouping in Chicago Following the destruction of Raven Rock Bunker in 2277, Enclave forces were decimated and in complete disarray. With the deaths of both President John Henry Eden and Colonel Augustus Autumn, the faction was leaderless. Many Enclave personnel had become disillusioned after decades of warfare, and used the chaos as cover to desert and assimilate into the Wasteland. Others deserted the Enclave, but applied their combat expertise and military-grade technology to mercenary work. Still others continued to fight for the Enclave in isolated cells scattered across the Capital Wasteland. After Colonel Charles Conwyn learned of the defeat, however, he issued orders demanding that all surviving Enclave personnel evacuate via vertibird to Facility: Rust in Chicago. From 2277 to 2280, various Enclave detachments limped to Facility: Rust and joined forces with Conwyn. By 2280, he had a formidable force at his command (though it was only a shadow of the Enclave's former power), and so promoted himself to the rank of General and assumed command of the Enclave. As commander-in-chief, Conwyn concentrated the Enclave's efforts on developing new military technology that would allow them to reconquer the surface world. At first, this research mirrored earlier Enclave attempts by focusing on biological and genetic mutations, led by Dr. Cronin. Cronin's experiments resulted in rad-badgers, cyclopes, and radwings, horrific hybrids between man and beast that now plague the Wasteland. At some point in 2283, however, Cronin's experiments got out of control; the creatures killed him and his research team and escaped from the laboratory. Afterward, Conwyn shifted the focus of Enclave research toward technology. From 2283 to 2291, Dr. Thomas Bohun and Dr. Steven Stratford developed the X-02 power armor and the Basilisk tank, powerful weapons that would prove instrumental during the Enclave's war against the surface. During this period, the Enclave continued to gather its strength. In 2287, a squadron of vertibirds arrived at Facility: Rust, carrying a number of high Enclave officials, including Robert Quinn, Sr., Calvin Crawford, Julia Wilde, and Phineas Platt. Quinn, as Secretary of Veterans' Affairs under the administration of Enclave President Dick Richardson, had a direct claim to the Presidency of the United States (although he did not want it). Conwyn saw this as a threat to his absolute power as military dictator of the Enclave, and an unspoken political power struggle betwen the two ensued. In 2290, Conwyn ordered Enclave patrols to begin scouting the Wasteland. Later that year, he dispatched task forces to secure locations determined to be crucial to the Enclave, including the Chicago Military Academy and Lake Michigan Naval Base. Enclave troopers also invaded several Vaults, including Vault 59 and Vault 72, forcing the inhabitants to join them. Meanwhile, Enclave eyebots had been scouring the Wasteland, and had uncovered valuable information concerning the local dominant factions.